


The Perfect Town

by mayas_50



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:35:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29933508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mayas_50/pseuds/mayas_50
Summary: When Grace inherits a family farm, she moves to small, quaint Pelican Town to start over and begin a farming career. However, once she arrives, she uncovers the murder of the town's previous mayor, and sets off to solve this mystery.
Kudos: 2





	The Perfect Town

The screeching of brakes awakes me from my deep slumber.

A voice comes over the bus speaker and I grab my bags as it announces that we’ve arrived in the small town of Stardew Valley.

Everyone else leans back in their seats with bored looks on their faces as I make my lone way to the front of the bus. I thank the driver and hop off.

As soon as my foot leaves the last step, the doors close behind me and the vehicle drives off, kicking up sand and dust as it leaves me behind as the new girl in this small, close-knit town.

“Hello!” A woman with red hair and striking green eyes waves me over to where she’s standing. 

Grunting, I lift my bags up and wobble over to her. When I reach her, I let my bags plop back down onto the ground.\

She laughs and holds out a hand. “I can help you with some of those,” she offers.

I hand her my heaviest bag and she takes it from me with seemingly no problem at all. 

“You must be Grace. I’m Robin,” she tells me. “I live up at the carpenter’s shop.” She jabs her thumb in a vague direction behind her. “I’m here to show you around.”

“Thanks,” I respond, heaving my bags back up to follow Robin.

“I’ll show you to your house first, let you put your bags there and get a little bit set up,” Robin tells me as she walks. “Then I’ll show you around town, maybe even introduce you to a few people.”

“Sounds good,” I puff out, trying to keep up with Robin’s brisk pace.

Her stride is long and her red ponytail bounces up and down with each of her steps. Her yellow-orange vest and same colour shirt strike me as strange in this almost unbearable spring heat.

“Gosh, it’s hot here,” I pant, sweat dripping off of my forehead.

“It gets worse in the summer,” she responds. Contrary to my groaning voice, she has a lightness in her tone that makes me feel almost worse. Just five minutes into my life here and I already don’t fit in.

Eventually, after a short walk that felt like hours, we reach a small cottage in the middle of an overgrown field filled with trees, bushes and twigs. 

“Obviously you’ll have to do some renovating,” she says, looking around at the growth everywhere. “Cut down trees and bushes, get rid of large rocks and stumps, those sort of things.”

As my heart sinks just thinking about all the work I have to do, I walk towards the cabin, hoping it’s much nicer than this forest I’m supposed to turn into a farm.

Inside is sweltering hot. I put down my bags and push my hair away from my face, hoping to cool down just a little bit.

The door opens and Robin walks in. “Phew, it’s hotter in here than out there,” she says, chuckling to herself.

Yeah, and I have to live here, I want to say, but I hold my tongue.

“I can probably install some air conditioning for you sooner or later,” she says. “But for now, you might have to leave some windows open.”

“How about that tour of the town?” I ask.

Robin grins. “Of course. Right this way.”

We chat while walking down the path towards Pelican Town, the “downtown” of Stardew Valley. Well, it’s not really much of a downtown. Just a couple houses and shops sparsely scattered around a town square.

She talks about her husband Demetrius and her two children, Sebastian and Maru, who are apparently around my age. She also talks about her carpentry business and the remodeling she can do to my house.

Eventually we reach two large buildings.

“This is the hospital, where Dr. Harvey works,” she says, gesturing to the white and blue building in front of us. “Next to it is Pierre’s, the general store. It’s where you can get seeds to plant your crops, among other things.”

As we walk around, I notice a few signs positioned in different places, all talking about the upcoming election. “What are these about?” I eventually ask.

“We’re having an election for mayor next week,” she tells me.

“Who’s running?”

“Demetrius, Jodi, and Pierre.”

“Is the previous mayor running again?”

Robin’s body goes rigid and she shakes her head. “There were… complications with the previous mayor,” is all she says. “Anyways, let’s go visit Marnie’s, shall we?”

The walk to Marnie’s is silent. Robin’s pace has quickened, and I don’t dare bring up the previous mayor again.

Marnie’s house is a ranch house connected to a large barn. 

Robin walks right in without knocking.

“Oh, hello,” Marnie says with little happiness in her voice. “You must be the new girl. I’m Marnie.” She’s a stout woman with a kind face, although now it seems as if it is drained of joy. She has thick brown hair which is pulled into a large braid.

“I’m Grace,” I respond. 

“Nice to meet you,” Marnie says, although her tone suggests otherwise.

“We should leave,” Robin murmurs in my ear. “It was nice to see you again, Marnie,” she then says to the sad woman, who only gives a slight nod in response.

“What’s up with her?” I ask once we close the door behind us.

“Her sweetheart died,” responds a voice that is not Robin’s.

My eyes search my surroundings until they latch on to a young man tending to the chickens.

His face is gruff and stern, with stubble on his chin. He wears a ratty blue sweater and old grey shorts.

“Oh, I…” I stumble over my words, startled by the newcomer and the severity of Marnie’s situation.

Robin puts a hand on my back and guides me out of view of Marnie’s ranch. “That’s Shane, Marnie’s nephew,” she explains. “He’s…” she pauses, finding the right words. “He’s struggling a bit. Marnie’s helping him get back on his feet.”

“I see,” I respond.

She lets out a quick breath and nods to herself, moving past the situation. “Now, I’ll show you to my place.”

We chat idly while we make our way up to the carpentry shop. 

“Here we are,” Robin says. “I built this house myself.”

“Wow, it’s really nice,” I say, admiring the artistry of the shop.

“Come on in.” Robin opens the door and is greeted by a tall, dark-skinned man.

He smiles when he sees me. “You must be the new girl.”

“It seems as if everyone knows about me,” I say.

The man laughs. “A newcomer always sparks our interests. It’s not very often people move in here, you know.” He holds out his hand. “I’m Demertius.”

“Grace,” I respond, shaking his hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“And you,” Demertius says. “You should meet my daughter. She’s in the lab.” He walks to the next room and comes back with a girl who has short brown hair and large round glasses. She smiles when she sees me. “Hello! Dad told me you’re the new girl. I’m Maru.”

“I’m Grace,” I tell her.

“There’s one more person you need to meet,” Robin says, “although he’s really shy. One second.” She sprints down some stairs. I can hear arguing occurring. After a minute, I hear a holler of “Sebastian!” and then Robin re-emerges with a pale, dark-haired boy trailing after her.

I smile awkwardly when he eventually lifts his eyes to see me. “I’m Grace,” I say, hoping I make a good impression with Robin’s whole family.

“I’m Sebastian,” the boy murmurs. “Although you probably already know that by now,” he says, giving a scathing look to his mother.

Robin returns Sebastian’s glare with a malicious look of her own, then gives me an apologetic smile. “You’re welcome to stay for dinner, if you’d like.”

“I’d love to,” I respond.

“Perfect! We’re having pot roast.” Robin turns to her children. “You two, set the table.” 

Maru nods and takes off towards the kitchen, and Sebastian follows her, dragging his feet every step of the way.

“Sorry about him,” Robin apologizes, grimacing. “He’s been like this ever since the divorce.”

I smile and nod. “It’s fine, I understand.”

Sounds of dishes shattering suddenly ring from the kitchen, and Demetrius winces. “I’ll go help them clean up,” he says, giving Robin’s hand a squeeze.

When he does that, I suddenly realize that Robin’s hands have been shaking this entire time.

“Thanks, hun,” the red-haired woman responds, and she gives her husband a quick kiss on the cheek.

Demetrius heads towards the sounds of Sebastian and Maru arguing, and Robin directs me to a couple of chairs positioned by the front entrance.

“So, what do you think of Stardew Valley so far?” Robin asks.

“I like it,” I respond. “The people here are very nice, as well.” As I say that, I think of the hostility radiating from Shane and the scowls given to everyone from Sebastian. Well, at least some of them, I think, not daring to speak it aloud.

Robin smiles. “Well, that’s good. I hope you-”

“Dinner!” Demetrius yells from the kitchen.

Robin and I stand up and make our way to the kitchen.

It’s not very big, and the extra chair meant for me has been squished in between where Sebastian and Maru are sitting.

I edge my way into my seat and try not to look at Sebastian in case he starts yelling at me or something.

Demetrius hands me a wonderful-smelling bowl and I immediately dig in.

“So, do you think you’ll like it here?” Maru asks me.

I nod, my mouth too full of food to respond with words. Eventually, I swallow and say, “I already do like it here. Everyone is so nice.” Involuntarily my eyes flicker to Sebastian, who scowls and looks down at his bowl, knowing what I was thinking. “I’m not sure I’ll fit in, though. You’re all so close.”

“Of course you’ll fit in,” Robin says. “You’ll start to meet people, make friends, maybe even fall in love…”

“You have to stop watching those idiotic Hallmark movies,” Sebastian mumbles.

Robin’s face flushes red and Demetrius almost spits out his food laughing. “How did you know?” Robin asks.

The corner of Sebastian’s mouth lifts in a miniscule smile, despite his best efforts to keep it down. “They’re all recorded on your TV.”

“Darn it,” Robin whispers.

Maru laughs and I nervously join in. 

It’s so weird to be joking with someone else’s family when you’ve only just met them.

The family continues to talk, periodically asking me questions as to keep me engaged in the conversation. Eventually, we all finish our food.

When I look out the small window, I see that it’s already very dark outside. “I should get going,” I say, standing up. “It was very nice of you to have me over.”

Robin shakes my hand as I stand to leave, and Maru waves me goodbye. Sebastian doesn’t even look up from his half-eaten bowl of food as I bid farewell to the family. 

The long walk home through the dark is tiring. Unfortunately, the temperature hasn’t gone down a bit.

The night is long and dotted with fleeting moments of rest. I toss and turn, trying to sleep through the smothering heat.

Eventually the light of the morning sun breaks through the windows and I open my bleary, tired eyes. I yawn and roll out of bed, almost landing in a heap on the floor. After   
fumbling around, I eventually slip on some clothes and grab an axe to start chopping down some of the trees that have grown.

Before I leave my house, I look at the clock: 6:00am.

Yikes.

Chopping down trees turns out to be sweaty and backbreaking work. Eventually, I’ve cleared enough space to use my hoe to create a small area to plant crops.

Before heading to Pierre’s, I take a quick shower to clean myself off.

The walk there isn’t too bad, but the heat drains all of my energy. In no time at all, I’m dragging my feet with every step. 

As I’m heading up to the shop, I run into someone.

“Hey, what’s your problem?” The gruff guy named Shane snarls as he turns around.

“Oh, sorry, I’m just…” I stumble over my words as I try to find something to say. “I’m just tired, I didn’t mean…”

“Whatever, just don’t let it happen again,” he growls as he starts to walk away.

“Where are you headed?” I ask, trying to seem friendly.

“Don’t you have work to do?” He responds, not slowing down or turning around.

“Sorry,” I mumble. I look back at Shane only once as I walk into Pierre’s.

A small bell greets me as I open the door, and a short man with wild hair and glasses stands by the counter. “Hello,” he says, “welcome to Pierre’s.”

I smile. “Hi, I’m just looking for some spring seeds, do you have any?”

He waves a hand in the direction of the aisle I should look in. I thank him, and as I head over, I remember the sign I saw yesterday. “You’re running for town mayor, aren’t you?” I ask.

“Yes,” he replies. “And I reckon I’m gonna win.”

“And why’s that?” I ask, then realize how rude that sounds.

Pierre, on the other hand, doesn’t realize, and keeps talking. “I’m close to all the residents, I know how to handle money, and I guess I’d just be better at it than Demetrius, and especially Jodi.”

“I’ve never met Jodi.”

“Not to be rude, but she’s nothing but a simple woman trying to raise her kids. Not at all mayor material,” Pierre says with a smirk.

At that moment, a woman with a long braid wearing a workout outfit enters the store.

“Hello, Jodi,” Pierre says with a light tone, “we were just talking about you!”

Jodi giggles. “Good things, I hope,” she says.

“Of course, of course. I was just telling Grace here what a competitor for mayor you are.”

I try not to let my face betray the confusion I’m feeling. “I’m Grace,” I say.

“Ah, the new girl! I’ve been meaning to meet you, I’ve just been so busy, you know, with the election, and the kids,” she says. “It’s great to meet you.”

“And you,” I murmur, the words Pierre said still playing in my mind.

“Here for your workout class?” Pierre asks.

“Every Tuesday,” Jodi replies with a smile.

“Great, have fun!” Pierre grins after the woman, who walks through a door in the back of the store. As I turn my attention back to the seed aisle, I catch Pierre’s grin turn into a sneer in the corner of my eye.

I pick out a few seeds to plant - potato, cauliflower, kale, and parsnip - and head back to my house. After a gruelling hour of planting and watering, I take my second shower of the day and decide to head over to Robin’s.

As I’m making my way over, I see a blonde girl sitting on a park bench in the distance. Before I can change my mind, I head over to introduce myself. “Hi, I’m Grace,” I say.

She looks up at me. “I’m Haley. You must be the new farmer girl.”

Haley is strikingly pretty, with impeccable taste in clothing. Her hair is bright blonde and her eyes are blue. 

She looks me over with a slight expression of disgust. “Did you seriously think those clothes were a good idea?” She laughs. “Maybe if you actually tried looking nice, you might be pretty… You know what? Never mind.”

Inside I start to seethe, but I try to keep my cool. “Goodbye, Haley,” I say, trying to keep my tone as normal as possible.

She chuckles as I walk away, and I resist the urge to spin around and punch her.

Soon I reach Robin’s house and I knock on the door.

“Come in!” I hear her yell.

As I walk in, she says, “You don’t have to knock, you know. You can just come right on in anytime you like.”

“Thanks,” I respond.

Robin smiles. “You can hang out here for a bit. I’m gonna have a shower, I just came back from exercise class.”

“Cool,” I say. “Is Maru here?”

“Sorry, no, she’s working,” Robin explains. “You can hang out with Sebastian, though. He’s just in his room.”

“Oh, no I don’t want to bother-”

Before I can finish my sentence, Robin is already heading down the stairs to Sebastian’s room. 

“Sebastian, Grace is here,” she says.

“And? Why should I care?” He replies.

I can hear their conversation loud and clear, but I try to act like I’m not listening in.

“Can she come down here for a bit and hang out with you?” Robin asks.

“No, I’m busy.”

“It wasn’t a question.”

“Then why did it sound like one?”

“Sebastian! Stop being so difficult!”

“Ugh! Fine! She can come down here!”

“Good!” Robin heads back up the stairs. “Sorry, did you hear all that?”

No,” I lie.

She sighs in relief. “Good. Anyways, have fun. I can make lunch for you in a bit if you want.”

I fake a smile and head down to Sebastian’s room.

It’s small and windowless. The walls are dark and there isn’t much furniture to liven the room up. Sebastian is sitting behind a computer, typing furiously.

“Hi,” I say as I open the door and walk in.

I give him a small smile as he looks up.

He doesn’t return it.

“Hi,” he mumbles, looking back to his computer.

I sit down on a small stool by him. “So, whatcha doing?”

“Work,” he responds.

“Oh. What… what kind of work?”

“I do some freelance programming.”

“Cool, cool.”

We sit in awkward silence for a while. I stare at my feet and my hands fidget in my lap.

“So…” Sebastian’s voice startles me back into reality. He doesn’t strike me as the kind of person who would willingly start conversations. “Having a good week?”

“Yeah,” I respond.

“Nice.”

“You?”

“Eh.”

“Oh.”

Once again no one says anything.

I catch peeks of Sebastian as he works. His long black hair hangs a bit in front of his dark eyes. His hands type furiously as he stares intensely at the computer screen.

“Um,” I say, trying to break the silence.

“Oh, uh sorry, for being so quiet,” he says. “I’m just-”

“Working, yeah.”

“So…”

“Yeah.”

“Ok.”

“Should I leave?”

“Oh!” His eyes widen. “No, you don’t have to. I mean, you can, I just… I d… You can. If you want. But you don’t have to.”

“Ok,” I say.

Sebastian presses a couple of buttons and his screen shuts off. He turns to face me. “So, why’d you choose to come here? Pelican Town? Of all places?”

“Well, my grandpa…” I rub the back of my neck. “He died. Left me the farm.”

“Oh. Were you close?”

“Not terribly.” I look down at my feet. “It still felt weird though. Having someone you know die… well, it just makes you think.”

“Yeah.” Sebastian sighs. “I mean, I’ve never had anyone I know die, but when my parents got divorced… well, I haven’t seen my dad since. It’s been hard.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, like, we talk and stuff, on the phone sometimes, but he’s so busy and… I don’t know.”

“Well, at least Demetrius seems like a nice guy. And Maru sounds great.”

Suddenly I can feel all of Sebastian’s walls come up again. In an instant he goes from sensitive and shy to cold and defensive. “Demetrius isn’t my real father. And Maru… well, why does everyone like her so much? Sure, she seems smart and friendly, but it’s all an attention-grabbing scam.”

“I… sorry, I just-”

“Whatever.” Sebastian turns on his computer again, turning away from me.

My heart sinks and I look back down at the ground.

The moment I start to make a genuine connection with someone, I mess it all up.

“Grace, I made you a sandwich,” Robin calls from upstairs.

I stand up. “I’m gonna-”

“Yeah, okay.”

Sighing, I make my way up the stairs. 

Gosh, Grace, I think, you are SUCH an idiot! You have no social skills whatsoever! How can you be so stupid and insensitive and mean? 

I continue to curse myself out in my brain until Robin greets me with a smile and it makes me feel a little better. 

She hands me a sandwich. “So, do you think you get along with Sebastian?” She asks.

We walk over to the two chairs by the front door and sit down.

I shrug. “I thought so, but then I said something and… I think I messed it up.”

“Sebastian’s sensitive,” she says, “and shy, and scared. It takes him a while to warm up to people. It took him two years to really become close to Sam and Abigail.”

“Oh.” I take a bite of my sandwich.

“Don’t worry, you’ll make good friends here eventually.”

I smile. “I hope.”

Footsteps sound from the stairs. Sebastian looks around the corner to see us sitting by the front door and talking. “Hey mom, did you make one for me?” He asks.

Robin nods and tosses him a sandwich.

He catches it. As he heads back down, I catch him glimpsing at me for a second, with an apologetic yet angry look in his eyes. 

I shake my head, clearing my mind of all self-deprecating thoughts. “Anyways… do you by any chance build farm buildings? Like chicken coops, barns, those sort of things?”

“Yeah, I do. Why are you wondering?”

“Well, I’ve only been here for a day, but I was thinking about expanding the farm.”

“That sounds like a great idea!”

“So… how much would a chicken coop cost?”

“4,000 dollars.”

I raise my eyebrows. “Wow, okay, I’m gonna have to save up.”

Robin laughs. 

“I should really get going. It was nice visiting with you.”

“Okay. See you around.”

I smile and leave Robin’s place.

As I’m passing Pierre’s, a girl with purple hair walks out and almost runs right into me.

“Oh!” I exclaim.

“Sorry, I-”

“Sorry-”

“I’m just-”

“Yeah, sorry-”

She stops and looks me over. “I don’t think I’ve met you…”

“Oh, yeah, I’m Grace. I just moved into the farm,” I explain.

“Right, I heard someone was moving into that old farm.” She sighs. “Shame. I really liked exploring the overgrown fields by myself.”

My face heats up and I look away. “Sorry.”

Her eyes grow big. “No! That’s not what I meant! I’m Abigail, by the way.” She smiles. “It’s good to meet you.”

I immediately recognize her name. “Abigail. You’re friends with Sebastian, right?”

Her left eyebrow lifts up in confusion. “How did you know?”

“Robin told me.”

“I see. Yeah, Sebastian and I are close. Anyways, I should get going.”

“Of course, of course.”

“I look forward to seeing you again,” Abigail says as she waves and walks away. “Bye!”

“Bye!” I wave back as she leaves. 

After a small walk I arrive at Marnie’s, where I’m going to ask about owning chickens. Although it feels weird, I enter without knocking. Just like last time Robin and I came here, Marnie is standing behind the counter. 

“Hello,” she says, giving me a weak smile.

“Hi,” I respond. “I was just wondering about owning chickens.”

“Okay. They’re 800 dollars each. You can either farm hay or buy it here. When you get a coop, you might want to put a heater in there for the winter. Also, they lay eggs every single day, so you’ll need to keep up with that. It’s hard work.”

“Is that it?”

“Pretty much.”

“So…” I remember what Shane told Robin and I yesterday. “I heard about your boyfriend. How did he-”

“He wasn’t my boyfriend,” Marnie says. “And he was stabbed.”

My heart thuds and my eyes widen. “Who-”

“Nobody knows.”

“Oh.”

Tears well in Marnie’s eyes and she turns away from me. “Is that all you need? Just to ask about chickens?”

“Y-yes, thank you. I’ll… just go now.” I turn around and go to leave. As I open the door, I run into Shane, who’s holding his hand out to open the door himself.

“Uh…” I struggle to find words to say.

“What are you doing here?” Shane asks in a very accusatory tone.

“Just asking about… chickens…” I respond, my hands shaking.

Shane says nothing. Instead, he just glares at me for a second before pushing past me into Marnie’s house.

Without looking back, I rush out and leave the whole place behind me.


End file.
